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Donald Trumphas hinted that space exploration could face a fight to protect its share of public spending should he win the US presidential election in November.

Early in the campaign he made clear that earth should be a greater priority.

“Right now we have bigger problems, you understand that, we've got to fix our potholes. You know we don't have exactly a lot of money,” he said in New Hampshire.

Interviewed in writing by Aerospace America, the billionaire mogul and Republican frontrunner appeared cool towards committing large amounts of public money to the US space programme.

Donald Trump in OregonCredit:
Rob Kerr/AFP

Asked whether he thought the existing NASA budget was adequate, Mr Trump made clear that much would depend on the state of the US economy.

“What we spend in NASA should be appropriate for what we are asking them to do,” he said.

“We also have to balance our spending priorities based on our economic circumstances, and right now, those circumstances are quite challenging. Our first priority is to restore a strong economic base to this country. Then, we can have a discussion about spending.”